We're back and we're 40 inches. A Nov '15 Trip Report

[deannaf87]

Our First Time in Future World​

On the next morning, which was 11/18, we were up and ready for a yummy breakfast at the Garden Grill. We said hello to our giraffe friends before leaving the room.



We drove to Epcot and arrived around 7:30. We ended up about 4 families back in the ADR line and the line got very big, very quickly. Seemed to be a regular occurrence. The CM checking reservations walked through the line and scanned everyone's magic bands. She had a VERY THICK Cajun accent. She was telling something to the family behind us and the dad's face was just a blank stare. After she walked away, he just said "I have no idea what she said". I wonder if it was important? lol. Her accent reminded me of the guy from The Waterboy. You know which one... It was glorious.

Once we were let in the park, we followed the CM's directions and for some reason we had to walk through an empty building to get to the Land pavilion. Is this a regular thing? I want to say the building said Innoventions and the floor was marked like a street. I thought it was weird. Is there a reason for this?

We were the 2nd family to check in at GG and were called back at 8AM on the dot. Our server was Bob and he was GREAT. Our favorite server of the trip. We met all the usual characters and loved the breakfast. It was delicious. I highly recommend eating breakfast here if you can.





It was Mickey's birthday this day. You can see his birthday pin here.



We decimated the sticky cinnamon bun bake fairly quickly. This was all that was left by the time I remembered to take a picture.


Ezra looks like he really enjoyed snuggling up with Chip.


After breakfast we headed towards Soarin' to get ready for rope drop. Apparently we were too early because the CMs said we had to go back upstairs until they gave us "the OK". After a while they said we could go ahead and go through the line. This was about 15 minutes before the 9AM park opening, so that was cool.

Waiting for Soarin' to open up. Us and about 2 other families got to ride the first ride of the day. I know it's silly but don't you feel all special getting to ride a ride before the park opens? Haha.

I rode Soarin' at Disneyland in 2003 and it was my favorite ride. I just remember thinking the technology was amazing. This time around I was just like... meh. It's still cool but definitely needs an update. I'm excited to ride the new version on our next trip.

When we were getting off the ride and walking through the Land pavilion, the rest of the masses were funneling in. It was insane the amount of people that were heading there. We were glad to not be in that mess. We headed over to Living with the Land. We had a boat almost to ourselves except for one guy and his child who forked off from the masses and rope dropped Living with the Land, haha. In his defense his child was like 18 months, so that makes sense. We all really liked LWtL. It's a nice relaxing and informational ride. Two thumbs up.


Boat selfie.

After that we were done with the Land and wanted to head to the Sea. We walked through the endless queue for Nemo. I would not want to be in that thing if the line is ever that long. Our wait was just the time it took to walk the 80 miles of turnstiles. Nemo is a really cute ride and the kids both loved it. When we were getting off a CM was announcing that the next Turtle Talk was in 2 minutes so we headed that way. The kids headed up front and we grabbed a bench in the back. This show as so cute. We were cracking up the entire time. Audrey got to ask a question. She asked what it was like to be with the other turtles in the EOC. She was so happy and proud of herself. It was adorable.

We spent the next 20 minutes or so exploring the Seas pavilion. We hung with the manatees for a while. Those things are adorably ridiculous looking and I love them.

Continued Next Post.

 

[deannaf87]

Our First Time in Future World (cont'd)​

After we were done exploring the seas it was time for our Test Track FP+. We headed across Future World and walked up to the Test Track building. Ezra kind of balked at the sound of the cars whooshing overhead but I assured him he'd love it. We had fun designing our cars.


Mine and Audrey's


Ezra and Daniel's

When were queuing up to get in the vehicles someone got confused. I don't know if it was me or the CM but somehow we all ended up on the same row. Since the vehicles seat 3 across, that meant we wouldn't all be on the same car. So the kids and Daniel headed off on their ride without me.


Their photopass picture. I'll just photoshop myself in there.

I got in a car with a bunch of randos and had a very boring time, haha. I was kind of bummed but decided to just roll with it. When I was getting off, a CM grabbed me and said "HERE SHE IS!" and brought me over to my family who was waiting for me. They said they were sorry we got separated and wanted us to ride again together! So we got to ride twice in a row. It was great. The second ride was much more fun.


Not the best PP picture ever, haha. You can't even see Ezra. Daniel and Audrey look like they are having fun though.


I wish this picture came out better they were so cute holding on to each other while we left the ride.

We avoided an epic meltdown while walking through the dump shop. So many toys geared towards 4 year old boys, lol. My next plan was to get the kids to drink some Beverly, so we went on a search for Club Cool. I knew I saw it the night before, so I headed in that general direction. Is Epcot confusing to anyone else? I generally have good directional aptitude but I kept getting turned around. Eventually we found it and experienced the most anticlimactic first time Beverly tasting ever. It was hilarious. Audrey just took a sip and was like "eh, I don't like it" No yucky face or anything. Everyone else had the usual reaction. We had a great time trying all the flavors. The Melon Frosty Fanta was delicious.

Our next stop was the Imagination Pavilion to meet Figment. I know the ride has a bad reputation but I figured the kids would like it.


Terrible quality selfie.

The ride was cute? I guess never knowing the original version makes it easier to like this one. It definitely has untapped potential. The kids sure had fun in the area that it dumps into though.




After hanging with Figment it was around 11:45am and about the time we get tapped out. Such lightweights....

We had a FP+ for Spaceship Earth so we planned to do that and head out.


Time machine selfie



This ride gave me some major anxiety. Whenever we went through the burning section the smell got me thinking about what if SE caught on fire. I figured it would be hard to evacuate and started getting antsy. When we got to the mathematicians the teacher was spewing oil. At first I was like "why is that animatronic pouring water, that makes no sense?" then I realized he had sprung a leak. This didn't help my fire anxiety at all, haha. I was glad to head back to the current time. First we saw our futures.



Not soon after we got off the ride we saw that it closed down. Guessing that had something to do with the mathematician and his excess oil.

On our way out we grabbed some Photopass pictures.






We headed back to AKL for some lunch and rest. When we got back to the hotel everyone decided they didn't want to eat lunch. Obviously they were insane, so I went to the Mara by myself and picked up some things. I got a pepperoni flatbread, which was great. I also got a Mara salad (super great!) and a few cupcakes. Audrey and Ezra devoured the flatbread (don't want lunch my butt) and I had the salad. Daniel apparently really didn't want lunch and had nothing. The giraffe and zebra cupcakes were delicious and the kids made a big mess on the porch which was a lot of fun to clean up. After eating it was nap time. We were very excited for our dinner reservation with the Beast later that night.

 

[MataHari22]

Love how you can say goodbye to the giraffes before you leave. I would like to stay at AK.

Bobby Boucher! "Now that's some quality H2O." The Waterboy was such a funny movie.

I've never eaten at Garden Grill. Seems weird you'd need to walk through that, but IDK.

Glad you got to do a second ride on TT, that was nice of them.

I cannot even stand the smell in Spaceship Earth anymore. It was all I could do to not to wretch before I got out of there. Thank god for my scarf, and I could breathe into that.

You're photopass pictures came out very nice!

 

[celina14]

I'm loving your trip report and your kids are super adorable! I see your daughter likes the knee high sock look too... It's all my daughter ever wants to wear, no matter the outfit her socks must be pulled up to her knees!

 

[Volunteer]

We really liked the food here and definitely recommend it if you're looking for QS in World Showcase.

Sometimes all you want is Mexican food.

She had a VERY THICK Cajun accent. She was telling something to the family behind us and the dad's face was just a blank stare. After she walked away, he just said "I have no idea what she said"

I ran into this a few times at Scotland. On both sides, a few Scottish people gave crazy looks when my friend talked with her long drawn out southern accent.

I got in a car with a bunch of randos and had a very boring time, haha. I was kind of bummed but decided to just roll with it. When I was getting off, a CM grabbed me and said "HERE SHE IS!" and brought me over to my family who was waiting for me. They said they were sorry we got separated and wanted us to ride again together! So we got to ride twice in a row. It was great. The second ride was much more fun.

How great they let you all ride together! And I was just about to ask if you photoshopped Ezra out of the second picture.

Sounds like it was a great morning and afternoon!

 

[dlavender]

Reading your report makes me rethink skipping Epcot on our next trip.....

 

[allybabba98]

I am loving your trip report! Your kids are incredibly brave not even the bribe of a PS4 could get my kids on TOT (great parenting moment by my DH ) Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

 

[deannaf87]

Love how you can say goodbye to the giraffes before you leave. I would like to stay at AK.

Bobby Boucher! "Now that's some quality H2O." The Waterboy was such a funny movie.

I've never eaten at Garden Grill. Seems weird you'd need to walk through that, but IDK.

Glad you got to do a second ride on TT, that was nice of them.

I cannot even stand the smell in Spaceship Earth anymore. It was all I could do to not to wretch before I got out of there. Thank god for my scarf, and I could breathe into that.

You're photopass pictures came out very nice!

AKL was so cool. It was like Christmas every morning waking up to see what was outside of our window, haha.

I'm loving your trip report and your kids are super adorable! I see your daughter likes the knee high sock look too... It's all my daughter ever wants to wear, no matter the outfit her socks must be pulled up to her knees!

Yes! I bought her a pack of knee high socks that were all the emotions + Bing Bong from Inside Out. They were adorable.

Reading your report makes me rethink skipping Epcot on our next trip.....

Definitely rethink it. We skipped Epcot on our first trip and I regretted it.

I am loving your trip report! Your kids are incredibly brave not even the bribe of a PS4 could get my kids on TOT (great parenting moment by my DH ) Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

Thank you! Glad you are joining in. My kids definitely surprised me with their bravery this trip.

 

[deannaf87]

I ran into this a few times at Scotland. On both sides, a few Scottish people gave crazy looks when my friend talked with her long drawn out southern accent.

Hahaha Scottish is a hard one to understand and I'm sure they were totally thrown by the southern accent as well.

 

[deannaf87]

An Evening with the Beast and the Masses

After our naptime, it was time to get up and ready for a 6:45 reservation at Be Our Guest! This was the reservation I worked the hardest for. At our 180 days it was unavailable and I had signed up for Disney Dining Buddy (R.I.P.). One day during the summer they released a group of reservations and I got a ton of notifications. This was all while I was at an audit client. I got the text message while I was in the bathroom, and may or may not have sprinted (okay, walked vigorously... I haven't sprinted since the 4th grade shuttle run) through the halls to my laptop to make the reservation. I regret nothing.

So needless to say, I was very excited for this dinner. We had decided to take the bus because we didn't want to deal with parking at MK, especially on a rare non-party night in November. The bus ride to the park was very pleasant and not crowded at all. The lack of crowds ended as soon as we stepped off the bus. The MK was bananas this night. I expected it to be crowded due to EMH and no party, but the level of people definitely exceeded my expectation.

We made it through bag check and the turnstiles, where a lovely CM complimented me on my Bambi t-shirt. My mom tells me I watched Bambi religiously as a toddler. I've always had good taste.
Our first stop was the MK Christmas tree Photopass stop, where Ezra was very cooperative.

Yes, that made it to my Christmas cards this year. This is my reality people, no manufactured perfection here.

This was a little better.

We had gotten to the park a bit early. I want to say it was a little after 6pm when we were done taking pictures. I was jonesing for some Peoplemover, so we headed to Tomorrowland. When we got there, the conveyor belt thing up to the platform was not working. There was an absurd amount of people just standing around looking confused, so I decided to go with Plan B. It was Carousel of Progress time! We always enjoy it no matter how badly the "future" scene is.

After being infested with an ear worm... "There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.....", we headed towards Beast's castle. We checked in and waited to be welcomed to the castle. I took a few pictures while we waited.





Eventually the Master welcomed us and we were seated in the Rose Gallery.

I was a bit disappointed at first, but the Rose Gallery was SO much quieter than the other rooms. We appreciated the calm. Unfortunately our waiter was less than stellar. Dude had zero personality and was fairly inattentive. Maybe he was scared of my husband's grump face?

He loves candid pictures...

Daniel and I both got the steak.

It was pretty good. My favorite part was the sauce to dip your fries in.

Ezra got the grilled cheese and soup because he is a foodie.


Audrey got the meatloaf which I apparently did not get a picture of. I'm not sure what possessed her to get the meatloaf, since she is usually a steak person (hello, Texas....). She liked it though.

Daniel got a Chimay Blue.

I'm not really a beer fan, but this stuff was really good.

The beast stopped by to say hello.


Ezra seemed to be a little iffy of the beast. When we went to have our picture taken he lost it. We turned the corner into the room and he started screaming and ran out. Daniel tended to his irrational need to be assured that the 8 foot tall furry thing with horns wasn't going to eat him. Three year olds... am I right?

So Audrey and I got our picture with the beast.


And Ezra and Daniel settled for some suits of armor

You can still see some residual terror in Ezra's face.


The castle is kind of terrifying with all the creatures. Ezra is like "what is that thing behind me? why are you subjecting me to this?"

We got our pictures taken with a much more pleasant back drop. Well besides the pantless prince, that opens up a whole different terror...


Ezra's face says it all, as usual.

As we were leaving the castle, Wishes was going off. We stopped for a while outside SDMT and watched the fireworks go off all around us. It's a pretty cool vantage point back there. We decided to head towards the exits to try to beat the mass exodus. We were routed through the bypass behind main street and headed to the AKL bus stop. We missed a departing bus by 2 minutes, which was a bummer. It was a long wait until the next one. If I recall correctly there was a monorail accident this day and the monorail was not running. They had started running buses for the monorail resorts to help with the lack of monorail service. I'm not sure if that affected the bus schedule, but it sure seemed like it. By the time the next AKL bus came, the bus line was bananas. We squeezed in and got ready for the long ride across property. There were two ladies sitting by me who were longtime Disney fans and DVC members, so I had fun discussing Disney with them. It made the ride go by quickly.

Up next: Animal Kingdom!
​

 

[MataHari22]

Poor, Ezra. Lol. I couldn't believe how big Beast was and I am not as small as a three year old. I can totally see how that would be intimidating for a little kid.

 

[Volunteer]

After our naptime, it was time to get up and ready for a 6:45 reservation at Be Our Guest! This was the reservation I worked the hardest for. At our 180 days it was unavailable and I had signed up for Disney Dining Buddy (R.I.P.). One day during the summer they released a group of reservations and I got a ton of notifications. This was all while I was at an audit client. I got the text message while I was in the bathroom, and may or may not have sprinted (okay, walked vigorously... I haven't sprinted since the 4th grade shuttle run) through the halls to my laptop to make the reservation. I regret nothing.

After being infested with an ear worm... "There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow....."

Thanks for that.

Not sure if excited or yawning.

Are pikachu's being handled out at Be Our Guest instead of roses now?

Were yall the only ones eating in this room?

Ezra seemed to be a little iffy of the beast. When we went to have our picture taken he lost it. We turned the corner into the room and he started screaming and ran out. Daniel tended to his irrational need to be assured that the 8 foot tall furry thing with horns wasn't going to eat him. Three year olds... am I right?

Poor guy, I can see how that could be pretty terrifying for a three year old.

Well besides the pantless prince, that opens up a whole different terror..

And now I'll never see that stained glass in the same way.

By the time the next AKL bus came, the bus line was bananas.

B-A-N-A-N-A-S bananas. Thought I'd return the ear worm to you!

 

[deannaf87]

Lions, and Yetis, and Construction Walls... PT 1

The next day, 11/19, was a day I was really looking forward to. We were going to Animal Kingdom! On our last visit this was my favorite park. The theme is just so immersive. I was up with the sun again and said hello to my giraffe friends.



Even though I was really looking forward to getting to AK again, the length of the trip was really hitting me this morning. I was physically exhausted. Next time I'll be a little more sparing with the PPO ADRs. That's probably a lie. I really like entering the parks before the madness.

A quick 5 minute car ride and we were parking in the first row of the AK parking lot. The security had really been upped this day. For the first time I was asked to turn out my pockets and they searched more thoroughly through the bags. By the time we got to the turnstiles, we didn't wait long before we were let in. We were headed to Tusker House for an 8:05 reservation. At 180 days out the earliest reservation I could get was 9:45. Over the next 6 months I managed to get it earlier and earlier until it was practically the first reservation of the day. Planning skills...


The Tree of Life and some construction walls. The new theme of AK.

We headed towards Africa, found stroller parking, and checked in at Tusker House. We were called back immediately and given the spiel of the place, which boiled down to "don't wait in line for god sakes, don't do it". They really don't want you to form lines at the buffet, but it definitely happens. I found myself squeezing through people just standing there to grab items. The waitress said I could! I LOVED Tusker House. Second only to Garden Grill on this trip. Actually I think I liked the food better at Tusker House but the entire experience at GG was better. Buffets will probably move higher on my list as Ezra gets older and can be in charge of his own plate.




Donald was impressed with Ezra's buffet skills.



As you can tell there is a lack of Ezra in this picture. He was having nothing to do with Goofy. I guess he's too tall?

Love Ezra's face in this one.

The character interaction was pretty good here. The biggest obstacle is how close the tables are and how big the character's behinds are, haha. I think some rearranging is in order. While the food and characters were great, I could just never relax and enjoy the atmosphere here. Next time we might try a dinner without characters. That's still a thing here right?

After breakfast we headed out to find a bathroom and get lined up at Kilimanjaro Safaris before the crowds were let in for the day.



Took a picture while waiting on everyone to go to the bathroom. This area's themeing is on point. It was a great place to walk around while the park was empty. My plans of being in line for Safari was ruined whenever Daniel was coming out of the bathroom we saw the masses headed over the bridge and to the Safaris. We jumped in the middle of it and didn't have too terrible a position.

We were on a truck in no time.

The safari can be kind of anticlimactic after staying at AKL for three nights, haha. It was fun to see the unique animals though.


Adorable baby rhino.

And then the stars and moon aligned and this happened.




I could hardly contain my excitement. I'm sure everyone else on the truck thought I'd lost my mind, but I was giggling like a child. As the truck circled the lion rock, the lion followed the truck. This moment is up there with the birth of my children and it didn't even involve Demerol!




He even peed in my presence. I felt so honored.

And due to an unexpected photobucket crash, this post is to be continued....​

 

[MataHari22]

I really like the buffet at Tusker House. Works well with my food needs, lots of things I'm able to eat. Never been to Garden Grill.

Awesome lion experience and great photos!

 

[deannaf87]

Lions, and Yetis, and Construction Walls .. PT 2

When we were on the safari I got a email about Expedition Everest being down. We had a Fastpass coming up for Audrey and I. We decided to head that way anyways, but first stopped to get some Photopass pictures in.



Soon enough we were in Asia and under the shadow of the forbidden mountain.

Our walk from Africa to Asia was not as scenic as it was last time. The walls are just everywhere. I know progress and such and it's not forever but it definitely ruined the atmosphere. Another terrible thing happened on the way to Asia. Ezra was holding Audrey's new Pikachu toy and DROPPED IT. Not only did he drop it. He dropped it in a muddy puddle... and then I ran it over with the stroller. It was bad. Audrey handled it very well. Daniel made a pit stop at the bathroom and washed it off for her the best he could. I told her it gave it character and she'll always remember Animal Kingdom when she looks at Pikachu. She agreed but also spent hours cleaning it when we got home. He looks good as new now. Pikachu is a boy right?

Audrey and I were first up the mountain. This was her first time on Expedition Everest.

As you can see, she loved it. This ride blew me away again. It's just so fun. I can't imagine how awesome it was when the Yeti actually moved. Although I'm pretty sure that I'd have a heart attack. The Yeti scares me enough with the strobe lights.

Next up Audrey and Daniel...

He looks thrilled. The lady behind him is definitely questioning her life choices at this point.

While Daniel and Audrey rode, Ezra and I went into the gift shop for a diet coke. I was in dire need of caffeine at this point. Of course, because it was Ezra in a gift shop, we came out with another toy. He got an Expedition Everest tool kit type thing. It had a whistle, binoculars, etc, etc.

Next we headed to Dinosaur. We didn't ride this last time so I was looking forward to checking it out.

Daniel and Audrey rode first and Ezra and I hung out and played with this new toys.



You see the family behind Ezra in this picture? About 2 minutes later they will be judging me heavily. I was looking at my phone and Ezra climbed up on the wall behind him and was walking on it. When I looked up and saw I freaked and grabbed him down. They gave me some disapproving looks. Oh well, can't please them all!

After Daniel and Audrey rode Dinosaur, we decided to try to make the next showing of the Finding Nemo Musical.

Waiting for the show.
The show was very cute and I enjoyed it. In hindsight I'd have rather seen the Lion King one. Still haven't made that one yet. Next trip is a must do.

After the show, I wanted to use the rider swap to ride Dinosaur. Audrey braved it again with me.

Cool ride.. don't really feel the need to do it again anytime soon though, haha. Quite bumpy and terrifying.

After Dinosaur we all agreed that we were beat. It was still very early at this point, but like I said earlier, all the early mornings were taking their toll.

We headed out but got some pictures with the tree first.





​

 

[deannaf87]

Osborne Lights and the Worst Disney Meal

After our tiring morning in Animal Kingdom, I took a long long nap. It was much needed. My kids on the other hand were having none of it. They stayed up watching TV and playing iPad. We had plans to head out for the Osborne lights that evening around 4:30. It was a torrential downpour at this time, but we decided to brave the elements. We were taking our car this night because after the lights we were meeting another family for dinner at the ESPN club ("zone"?, idk the one on the Boardwalk).

By the time we made it to HS parking lot, it was almost full. We were directed to the very last row and caught a tram. We made pit stop at the Trolley Car Cafe and grabbed some frapuccinos and chocolate milks.




We walked up to the Streets of America right as the lights were switched on. It was a madhouse in there. Wall to wall bodies. Not exactly the ideal holiday spirit on a lot of people's faces.




We made the best of it and did enjoy it, but were also glad to get out of the madness. We strolled through the rest of HS which was pretty empty and made our way to One Man's Dream.


Daniel and I really enjoyed the exhibit and the kids were surprisingly into it as well. The movie at the end had been replaced with a preview of The Good Dinosaur. The kids loved this part and were pumped to see it when it came out. We ended up going on Thanksgiving day and we all liked the movie.

After that it was time to head to the Boardwalk to meet up with Daniel's friend and his family who happened to be vacationing at the same time. Somehow, the plan ended up being to eat at the ESPN Club. We parked at the Boardwalk hotel. This hotel was beautiful at Christmas time. Daniel and I both really liked it and added it our mental list of future resort possibilities. Of course, we'll have to get an extra job or something. Next trip will be after he is out of the military and the loss of the 40% off deluxes will hurt. We're looking at moderates for our next trip. Poor unfortunate souls....



We had dinner at the ESPN Club and it was... less than stellar. Well, it was bad... so bad. I had the Turkey Carver Sandwich and it was quite possibly the blandest entree I've ever had. From what everyone else said, their entrees were bad too. The coolest thing about the place was the TVs in the bathrooms.



Ezra fell asleep during dinner in his stroller and didn't even budge when I put him in bed for the night.

And Audrey was out as soon as she hit the pillow.


Daniel and I weren't far behind. We needed all the rest we could get, tomorrow was our marathon day and last day. We were going to attempt to be in a park from 8AM to 5PM. It has never happened before, could we do it?
​

 

[Stargazer9]

Love love your TR. Hilarious.
Very much enjoying it!
Just a quick note that SE also makes me nervous. Everyone else thinks I'm nuts, so I'm glad to hear you agree!
Looking forward to more...

 

[deannaf87]

I really like the buffet at Tusker House. Works well with my food needs, lots of things I'm able to eat. Never been to Garden Grill.

Awesome lion experience and great photos!

Tusker House is delicious. I could spend hours in there sampling everything.

Love love your TR. Hilarious.
Very much enjoying it!
Just a quick note that SE also makes me nervous. Everyone else thinks I'm nuts, so I'm glad to hear you agree!
Looking forward to more...

You're not nuts! You just have a great sense of self preservation! Thanks for reading

 

[T00dles]

Fun trip report

 

[Volunteer]

Jelly.

Pikachu is a boy right?

I'm not exactly sure. I'm a nerd, but the Pokemon craze hit the generation right behind me.

After doing some research (google), it appears that Pikachu is a male. Add this to the list of things I never thought I'd google.

I can't imagine how awesome it was when the Yeti actually moved.

It was pretty nice.

Looks like you all had a nice day at AK and MGM. I hope you weren't too exhausted for your last day!